How to Identify a Spoof Email Address? – Shutting Doors to Cyber Attackers

24 February 2025

Every online service we use today is a door to the Internet. However, just like in the real world, thieves can also compromise the same door. Hence, you need to keep your door shut, right?

One such door is your email, where spoofed emails can enter. If you don't pay attention, this may lead to a loss of your personal information, wealth, or even complete access to your computer. That's why we have created this blog about spoofed email meaning and prevention. So, without further ado, let's filter the wrong emails out of your inbox!

What is Spoofed Email? - Understanding Email Spoofing

Email spoofing is one of the most common ways for cybercriminals to attack individuals and sometimes organisations. As the name suggests, email spoofing involves sending emails to scam people.

In an email spoofing attack, the cybercriminal sends an email to your email address. The mail is intended to impersonate an individual or an organisation like your friend, bank or company for which you were searching for a job. But why would you believe any such mail, and what content does such a mail have?

Well, people often fall for such phishing attacks because the mail address from which the mail comes looks very similar to a legitimate email. Let's say there's a company approaching you for a job, and it's a top company that most people know about. In this case, we are taking Google as an example. The mail you received is from "hiring@googIe.com"; you compare it to another Google email account, such as one in your promotions tab, "promotions@google.com". So you proceeded with the mail, and you are now email spoofed.

The reason is that the first email actually has the capital "I" and not a small "l". So, it's a totally different email. Moreover, what content can it have? Based on who you are, it may have a fake website link to get your personal information or malicious links to install a virus in your computer.

To protect yourself from such attacks, seeking IT support in Hertfordshire can help ensure that your systems are safeguarded against phishing attempts and other cyber threats.

Email Spoof Test - Identifying and Preventing Email Spoofing Attempts?

As you know what email spoofing is, let's look at some ways to stop it. In this section, we will discuss how to identify email spoofing attempts and also some ways to email spoofing prevention. Here we go:

Identifying an Email Spoofing Attack

There are two commonly used ways to spoof through emails, and below are the details of both, along with how you can spot them.

• Spoof Email Address: An Email Trying to Look Like a Trusted Source

The first and very common way a spoof email sender uses is to disguise a trusted email. It's similar to the example we talked about above. But how can you identify a spoof email address? First, read the content of the email without clicking on any link or even "blue-coloured text" in the email. Mostly, such emails either try to make you aware with alerts like your bank account is in danger or excite you with text like we have chosen you for a job. If you find it suspicious that you didn't apply for a job or this is not how your bank contacts you, look at the sender's info.

Here, you may find a very authentic email address like "abc@exampIe.com", but just like we read above, the "L" here is a capital "I", or there can be a different alteration in your case. The best way to find it out is to copy the email address and paste it into Google Translate. After pasting it to Google Translate, click the dictate button, and if there is any mistake, the email will sound weird. You can now try it for "exampIe" or "GoogIe". Being cautious of such tactics can help you avoid falling for spam emails designed to deceive and steal personal information.

• Domain Spoofing: Altering the "From" Section to Look Like a Trusted Source

When scammers take a step ahead and scam you, it becomes more difficult to spot an email spoofing attack. This attempt is known as domain spoofing, where the domain remains the same as a company's or any other personal email address. These attacks are facilitated with the help of third-party email-sending services or public cloud-based services, which don't cross-check if the user is a legit owner of the sender's email or not. These services take advantage of weak email authentication standards. While you may be unable to identify such email spoofing, you can get help from email authentication standards like DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance).

Email Spoofing Prevention

Now, how can you prevent email spoofing from even happening to you? Well, there are ways to ensure that such emails don't even enter your inbox. Here are some of these ways:

1. Mark as Spam: If you identify a particular email as a phishing email, you mark the email address as spam, which will prevent further emails from the same sender from entering your inbox.
2. Hire an IT Support Company: This is not for individuals but a must for organisations to have access to professional IT support partners. Let's say you are in Hertfordshire; then you can outsource IT support in Hertfordshire to prevent such email spoofing by training your employees and monitoring what's coming in. If you are also looking for an IT support outsourcing company, here we are, the Renaissance, the top IT support in Hertfordshire.
3. Check Links Before Clicking: If you find any links in an email, check where they are heading. You can probably easily identify that the link will not land on the right page. However, if you find an interlinked text in blue, take your cursor and keep in on the link, and the link will be displayed. Now, do the same to identify if it's a right or wrong link.

Thanks and Regards Wrapping Up

To sum up, here you have email spoofing explained, one of the most common ways to scam people and organisations, and it's comparatively easy to scam this way. That's why you should be more alert when getting a suspicious email, be it sent to your personal email or company's email. You can stop email spoofing for yourself and your loved ones in the ways listed above. So, be aware and be safe in the online world as well.